Nick Cornish (from left), Adam Storke and John Lavelle star in the film festival favorite, opening at the Malverne Cinema on Friday.

Marro’s movie, which he produced with his childhood friend Kevin Lane, who also grew up in Long Beach, has generated considerable excitement since it began circulating through the regional festivals this year. It took the Best Director award at the Hoboken International Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement in Writing and Best Cinematography at Visionfest in New York City, was honored with Best Editing and Best Original Score, an Audience Award along with Best Original Score and an Honorable Mention for Best Original Song at the Long Island International Film Expo, Best Feature Film at the Toronto Independent Film Festival, also Best Screenplay at the Prescott and Hills Film Festival, as well as the Best Film – Festival Director’s Choice and Best Actor awards at the Hills Festival. All in all, it amounts to 12 awards at nine film festivals. But who’s counting? “I am elated,” said Marro. “You work very hard to be recognized and this has been extremely gratifying. It has been so encouraging that all these folks and audiences feel so good about it. Now we want to take it the next step and see how we do in a couple of markets, and ultimately find a major distributor for a wide release.” For the moment, Marro has been self-distributing his film, helped by the positive festival response. “This has been an entirely independently-created film. The money was raised independently [with the help of his friend Lane, who served as executive producer], shot independently and now we’re releasing it independently. There is a story in that in this do-it yourself culture.” And that is something Marro will be happy to discuss with those aspiring to get into the film business. He will be holding Q&A sessions throughout the weekend, following the showings of his film. Marro will conduct these discussions after the film’s 7:40 p.m. screenings on Friday and Saturday evenings, and after the 3:10 p.m. showing on Sunday. Marro will appear with actor Adam Storke, one of the film’s stars and possibly another cast member. “Anyone who is interested in filmmaking should come to the Q&A and hear what we have to say,” Marro said.